Jeremy Corbyn: ‘Jewish people have been at the heart of the labour movement throughout our history.’
Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

I have spent my life campaigning for recognition of the strength of a multicultural society. Britain would not be Britain without our Jewish communities. Our country would be unimaginable without the immense contribution made by Jewish men and women to every part of our national life, from art to science, industry to politics, in peace and in war.

Jewish people have also been at the heart of the labour movement throughout our history. So no one can, or should, try to dismiss or belittle the concerns expressed by so many Jewish people and organisations about what has been happening in the party I am proud to lead.

I do not for one moment accept that a Labour government would represent any kind of threat, let alone an “existential threat”, to Jewish life in Britain, as three Jewish newspapers recently claimed. That is the kind of overheated rhetoric that can surface during emotional political debates. But I do acknowledge there is a real problem that Labour is working to overcome. And I accept that, if any part of our national community feels threatened, anxious or vulnerable, not only must that be taken at face value but we must all ensure those fears are put to rest.

That is why I want to make it absolutely clear that any government I lead will take whatever measures are necessary to guarantee the security of Jewish communities, Jewish schools, Jewish places of worship, Jewish social care, Jewish culture and Jewish life as a whole in this country.

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I want to go further. I want Jewish people to feel at home in the Labour party and be able to play their full part in our work to take our country forward. And I appreciate that this cannot happen while antisemitic attitudes still surface within Labour, and while trust between our party and the community is at such a low ebb.

Driving antisemitism out of the party for good, and rebuilding that trust, are our priorities. One part of that is working to ensure that all Labour party members show a higher degree of empathy with the perspective of the Jewish community, a community which endured a campaign of extermination across Europe just 75 years ago.

The Holocaust was the greatest crime of the 20th century. Jewish people who are feeling concerned must be listened to. And we would not be socialists if we were not prepared to go the extra mile and beyond to address Jewish concerns.

We were too slow in processing disciplinary cases of antisemitic abuse, mostly online, by party members. And we haven’t done enough to foster deeper understanding of antisemitism among members. So we are developing an education and training programme throughout the party.

The Holocaust was the greatest crime of the 20th century. Jewish people who are feeling concerned must be listened to

Cases are now being dealt with much faster. High-profile cases have almost all been resolved.

Denying the continuing problem doesn’t help. Labour staff have seen examples of Holocaust denial, crude stereotypes of Jewish bankers, conspiracy theories blaming 9/11 on Israel, and even one individual who appeared to believe that Hitler had been misunderstood.

People holding those views have no place in the Labour party. They may be few: the number of cases over the past three years represents less than 0.1 per cent of Labour’s membership of more than half a million. But one is too many.

Our party must never be a home for such people, and never will be. People who dish out antisemitic poison need to understand: you do not do it in my name. You are not my supporters and have no place in our movement.

I know that there are strong concerns about Labour’s new code on antisemitism. We embraced the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition in 2016. Many Jewish organisations and others believe the Labour party should also reproduce in our code all 11 examples appended to it.

Our code is a good faith attempt to contextualise those examples and make them legally watertight for use as part of our disciplinary procedures, as well as to draw on additional instances of antisemitism.

Seven of the IHRA examples were incorporated word-for-word. And I believe the essence of the other four have also been captured.

But I acknowledge that most of the Jewish community, including many Labour supporters, take a different view. The community should have been consulted more extensively at an earlier stage – which is why our executive decided last month to reopen the development of the code in consultation with Jewish community organisations and others to address their concerns.

Our actual differences are in fact very small – they really amount to half of one example out of 11, touching on free speech in relation to Israel. It is unfortunately the case that this particular example, dealing with Israel and racism, has sometimes been used by those wanting to restrict criticism of Israel that is not antisemitic. The Commons home affairs committee acknowledged this risk when it looked at the IHRA examples.

But I feel confident that this outstanding issue can be resolved through dialogue with community organisations, including the Jewish Labour Movement, during this month’s consultation.

All of us committed to peace and justice in the Middle East accept that the perspective of the Palestinian people, and their experience as victims of racism and discrimination, should not be censored or penalised any more than the right of Jewish self-determination should be denied.

Hostility to the Israeli state or its policies can be expressed in racist terms and that needs to be called out. But there are also many non- or anti-Zionist Jews who should not be branded as antisemites simply because they are not part of the Zionist tradition. Both traditions have always had honourable proponents in our movement.

Our common responsibility is to ensure that tensions in the Middle East never spill over into community relations here. I fully understand and respect the strong affection and affinity most Jews in Britain feel for Israel, whatever their view of the current Israeli government.

Labour supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. That means an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the creation of a Palestinian state, alongside the state of Israel, with both states living in peace and security. Our campaign for that should be conducted in a democratic, respectful and of course entirely peaceful manner.

This has been a difficult year in the Middle East, with the killing of many unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, and Israel’s new nation-state law relegating Palestinian citizens of Israel to second-class status. I know that many within the Jewish community, including the Board of Deputies, share our concerns. It should not be a source of dispute.

The far right is on the rise across Europe and North America. Antisemitism is being given free rein by nationalists in Hungary and Poland. And Tommy Robinson supporters are giving Nazi salutes on the streets of London, threatening black, Muslim and Jewish communities alike. That is a clear and present danger.

It is Labour’s responsibility to root out antisemitism in our party. It is our joint task to sustain a close dialogue worthy of a democratic political culture, a great political party and a vital, vibrant community at the heart of 21st-century Britain. Labour exists to challenge and defeat poverty, inequality and injustice in our society. It is my job to make sure we deliver that.